Three Months
by Steph5756lovestwilight
Summary: It has been three months since the incident in New York with Loki and Clint is ignoring the world. The team helps him out. Clint/Phil slash.


Three months. It had been three months since the New York incident. Three months since Clint and the rest of the Avengers moved into Tony's newly renovated Avengers Tower. Three months since Phil Coulson died. Three months and Clint was sitting on the roof of the Tower, thinking. He let his foot hang over the edge, while he held his other leg against his chest. Clint's head rested on his knee and he held his necklace in his hand. He fingered the two rings on the end of the chain and it made tears spring to his eyes. Soon he felt a hand on his shoulder and sighed, tucking his necklace into his shirt.

"Natasha, I said to leave me alone." Clint said without looking.

"Do I look like a redheaded Russian to you?" Tony asked.

"Sorry. I thought you were Tasha, she keeps trying to get me down from here. But-"

"If you wanted to come down, you would. I get it, man, I won't make you do anything you don't want to. What's that?" Tony pointed to the small part of the necklace chain that was sticking out of Clint's shirt.

"Nothing," Clint mumbled, moving to cover the chain up.

"Oh come on, I can keep a secret if it's a secret."

Clint sighed, swung his legs onto the roof, and walked toward the door. "That's not it, Tony. I just- I can't." And he was gone.

~3~

"You should go see him." Clint turned from his new hiding spot to see Bruce standing in the doorway. Clint was on top of a group of filing cabinets in Bruce's lab, thinking the doctor was in Tony's lab for the day. Clint narrowed his eyes, skeptical about what Bruce was talking about.

"See who?"

Bruce gave a disapproving look, before turning towards the door. "Please don't break anything, Clint. And please think about what I said."

~3~

"Why?" Steve asked when he entered the kitchen. Clint was lying on the top of the cupboards, holding a bow and shooting arrows into the door Steve had just entered.

"Do we really need a reason? It's Clint." Natasha said from the other room as she walked by, peering into the kitchen.

"Maybe you should get out and do something," Steve suggested.

"Like what?" Clint asked, shooting another arrow at the door. Steve visibly flinched.

"Thor's going out, why don't you join him?" Natasha said.

"Fine. If it will get you all to shut up, I'll go do something with Mr. Rainbows-And-Butterflies."

Thor and driving were two things that should never go together. Clint wasn't even sure that Thor should have been allowed to drive, and he even asked. But it seemed that Tony brought both Steve and Thor to get licenses when he brought Bruce to get his renewed. Anyways, Thor was driving like crazy and Clint didn't realize where they were going until he was in the parking lot. Then, as Thor went around the Jeep (the only thing semi-tough that Thor was careful enough not to break) to get Clint out, Clint clung to the seat. Of course, that didn't help very much because Thor could still lift him out.

"No no no no no!" Clint yelled, trying to get back to the Jeep.

"Come, friend Clint. It is time you saw the Son Of Coul, the others told me you were most likely to trust me to not bring you here. I apologize that I am doing this, but you have been worrying us."

"I just can't, Thor. I can't be here, being here means that I'm accepting it."

"Accepting what?"

"That he's gone," whispered Clint.

"There is nothing we can do. He died with great honor to his name, isn't that enough?"

"You don't understand. I helped Loki kill him. And we promised, we promised each other we would always make it back. He broke that promise, I made him break that promise."

"It seems that I do not know as much of your relationship with our Son Of Coul as I assumed I did." Thor was looking down at Clint and for the first time, Clint realized that they had been walking and were now stopped in front of a grave. Phil's grave. "I will leave you to yourself. Take all the time needed." Thor walked away.

Clint stood there for a long moment, starring. Finally, he knelt down in front of the tombstone, reading.

'Here lies Phillip "Phil" Coulson.

He was a hard worker, a loved son, and an all-around good man. He payed the ultimate price to help save the world and has left a mark in everyone's hearts.

Phil, Coulson, Agent, Son Of Coul.

Please, come again.'

Clint stood up, walked around the grave and was about to leave when he saw it. On the back of the grave, somewhere no one ever looked, was another sentence.

'Phil Coulson-Barton.

A devoted friend and adoring husband. He will never be replaced.'

Tears filled Clint's eyes, Natasha and Fury and Maria must have done it. They were all Phil's friends, though he had many more, and they were the only ones who knew about Clint and Phil. Clint knew he couldn't leave, not yet. He needed to say goodbye, like he should have at the funeral. He went back to the front of the grave and sat down. He wiped at his eyes, lightly cursing. He wasn't aware of the people not far behind him as he began to talk.

"I'm sorry," Clint started. "You have no clue how sorry I am. For everything. For being sloppy enough to be compromised, for helping that man kill you, for not going to your funeral or your burial, for not doing this sooner... Do you remember Budapest? That mission... I know that you, Tasha and I remember it so differently but all I can remember was you. I got shot in the leg and fell from my perch, remember? And I hit my head and was acting crazy... You had to drag me to meet medical all the way across the town. I was saying random things and most of them didn't make sense." Clint laughed as he wiped away more tears.

"But then I said it, something I'd wanted to do for years but never manned up to do. Three simple words told you so much, and the four I got in return, eventually, told me even more. Of course the four words you said before I began to protest were: "Be quiet Agent Barton," but then you said, "I love you too." We kissed, but you knew I was crazy and hallucinating, then I was high on pain meds. But you stayed with me until I got let out, and then you took me to your apartment. I never slept another night in my apartment.

"I love you, Phil. I love you so much, and I'm so sorry I forced you to break our promise. It's my fault you broke it and it's my fault you're dead." Clint finished, starring at the tombstone. He was too upset to notice the person approach him, and he didn't realize somebody standing behind him until there was a hand on his shoulder. He looked up with tear-filled eyes to see who it was.

"It's not your fault, Clint. And I didn't break my promise, I never have and I never will." Tears again fell freely from Clint's eyes as he looked at the man he loved, the man he thought was dead. He was quickly on his feet, and in his husband's arms. Phil gently pushed him away, just far enough so he could put his lips on his forehead, then his cheeks, then his nose and eyes and jaw and chin, and finally his lips. They kissed until they realized that there were people behind them, demanding answers. Phil kept his arms around Clint the entire time as they faced their friends to tell them everything.

The end.


End file.
